Sailorman the childish vehemence that you pass off as logic proves that your intellectual"use by" date expired long ago. Your anecdotes fascinate but your political views and social awareness are vestigial relics an era long past. Your "simpler blissful times" are nostalgic kitsch as relevant to today's world as a Norman Rockwell painting.In fact they only existed then for class whites. And that has nothing to do with your family owning slaves or not.

Sticks and Stones brother, Sticks and stones! Its very obvious that you don't know your subject, or never lived in that time,(are you an American and grew up in those times or just read about it?) or have a racial chip on your shoulder, or just love to stir sh*t and flame. I don't believe that I should have to say "I'm so sorry" for what other people did " (like Obama-Iben-lying has been doing all over the world.) Yes, there was racial problems that took decades to straighten out, but they did get sorted out. As to being a blissful time just for white children, That BS. There is obviously a bridge without its resident under it. BTW/ Have you ever really looked at a Norman Rockwell painting/drawing? They are splendid art of an era when America just beat the tyrants of the world, where building a strong free country, had buried their war dead (protecting Europe, etc) and moved on. Why don't you do the same and move on.